Blue Island

ARTICLES ABOUT BLUE ISLAND BY DATE - PAGE 2

Police in Palos Hills say an Oak Forest man has confessed to more than 75 burglaries throughout the southwestern suburbs. Officers told the SouthtownStar on Friday that 24-year-old Jeremy Ochoa was arrested Oct. 22 for a residential burglary in Palos Hills. They say Ochoa was picked up in Blue Island on an unrelated warrant and interviewed by the Palos Hills police. During the interview, Ochoa reportedly confessed to a Palos Hills burglary and about 75 other burglaries throughout the suburban area.

The SouthownStar reports: Encarnacion Solano, 69, of the 2300 block of 120th Street in Blue Island, died of head injuries Friday after colliding with a car while bicycling in Alsip Thursday. Get the full story: southtownstar.com

State officials are investigating allegations of abuse after a 1-year-old Blue Island girl was pronounced dead Sunday. The girl, Jaslene Vazquez-Pinto of the 12700 block of Winchester Avenue, was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. at Children's Memorial Hospital, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. According to officials the girl had abrasions and possible bleeding in the brain and was discovered by a boyfriend of the mother. Officials from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services have opened an investigation into abuse allegations against the girl's mother and boyfriend, said Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman for the agency.

Former Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine will investigate the death of a Calumet Township Trustee who drowned at a party in a Blue Island Park District pool. More than a month after trustee Carlos Salgado was found dead in the Memorial Park pool following an after-hours party attended by a few dozen township and park district employees, Township Board members Wednesday night voted to hire Devine to conduct an investigation for employee misconduct. Devine served three terms as state's attorney.

The family of a Calumet Township trustee who apparently drowned during an after-hours pool party organized by Blue Island Park District officials last month has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the park district president and the city of Blue Island. Fred Bilotto, president of the Blue Island Park District, unlocked the swimming pool gate, allowed about 30 people to enter, and also attended the party, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court.

The body of a 26-year-old Blue Island man who served as a Calumet Township Trustee was found in a local park pool Saturday morning, an apparent victim of drowning, authorities said. Carlos Salgado, 26, of the 1800 block of High Street in the south suburb was declared dead at MetroSouth Medical Center at 9:15 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Salgado died in an apparent drowning at Memorial Park, 12804 Highland Avenue, in Blue Island, according to the office.

BAGHDAD -- Opening arguments began today in the court-martial of a Navy SEAL from Blue Island who is accused in the abuse of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding the killings in 2004 of four U.S. private security contractors. Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas, wearing his blue Navy uniform, appeared in a military courtroom at the Victory Base Camp outside Baghdad to answer charges of dereliction of duty and impeding an official investigation. He has pleaded not guilty.

A 20-year-old ward of the state died Friday morning near his Blue Island home after apparently being beaten to death, officials said. Dominick Brunson, of the 12200 block of Longwood Drive, was pronounced dead at 1:50 a.m. at Metro South Medical Center in Blue Island, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. The spokesman said Brunson was found in the 12200 block of South Vincennes Road and he was a battery victim. The Blue Island Police Department would not comment on the incident but officials said that the beating appeared to be unrelated to Brunson's status as a ward of the state.

An argument in a Far South Side bar carried outside and resulting in the wounding of four innocent bystanders, police said. The shootings happened about 1 a.m. outside Magnolia's Sports Bar, 12217 S. Halsted St., Street, said Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak. Two men who were arguing inside the bar went outside and exchanged gunfire. They apparently missed each other, but wounded three men and a woman. A 40-year old man was wounded in the arm and leg, a 30-year-old man in the right hand, a 28-year-old man in the right thigh and a 31-year-old woman in the right foot.

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a hazmat situation in Blue Island Thursday night. (Tribune / Chris Sweda) Authorities in south suburban Blue Island sealed off a home Thursday night they say was the scene of a chemical spill and may have been a meth lab. Police and fire officials responding to a home in the 12700 block of South Hoyne Avenue encountered a man who appeared disoriented by chemicals inside,...